Australia-based LAI, owner of the FEC brand Timezone, is planning to invest AU$80m in India over the next five years.
Company chief Malcolm Steinberg has said the company recognises India as one of its biggest growth markets and told local press in India: "We are investing in talent, manufacturing and resources continuously. The mall revolution is clearly taking centre stage in India and we want our entertainment zones to be present wherever the malls are."
Timezone in India is a joint venture between LAI and Shoppers’ Stop and Timezone Entertainment chief executive officer Sonaal Chopra has said the company plans to set up three or four Timezones in the current fiscal year.
"We will expand across the country as more malls come up in cities like Aurangabad, Nashik and Nagpur," said Chopra. "The format of our entertainment zones works best in malls."
Mall owners in India often lease out the top floors of their properties for setting up food courts and gaming zones as it drives footfall. "While hypermarkets and cinemas continue to draw customers we believe entertainment zones will make them come back again and again," said Chopra.
"Banking on this logic, in the mid-term, we aim to launch about 45 such zones and over 100 by 2013."
